In The Last 24 Hours, Four People Lost Lives In Mob Lynching In Two States

Jharkhand: A man accused of carrying beef was beaten to death in Ramgarh district Tuesday. The deceased, Alimuddin alias Asgar Ansari, was allegedly carrying the “banned meat” in a Maruti van when a self-acclaimed mob of Gau Rakshaks stopped him near Bajartand village. He was brutally attacked and his van was set on fire, said the police, as reported by India Today.

The police personnel took him to a hospital, but Asgar died during treatment. The murder was premeditated, as per Additional Director General of Police R K Mallik. “Asgar was charge sheeted for child abduction and murder,” the officer said, adding that some people involved in beef trade hatched a conspiracy to kill him. “The killers have been identified.”

The police could not confirm if Asgar was carrying beef. The women of the village in Ramgarh district, as reported by The Citizen, came out in support of the grieving and terrified wife and children of the 50-year-old driver Alimuddin. They formed a front line, refusing to accept the dead body in a night-long standoff with the cops, demanding the police register an FIR and arrest the guilty first. Unprepared for the protest, the cops left without the body and came back with Rs 2 lakh compensation to Alimuddin’s widow. However, the women refused the money and demanded justice instead.

In another incident in the state, a man accused of raping and murdering an 8-year-old girl was allegedly lynched to death by a mob in the Ramgarh thana of Dumka district on Wednesday.

Local newspaper Prabhat Khabar reported that the minor girl had come to Jalwe village in the district for a wedding. She, along with a few other girls, went to a nearby lake from the ceremony to take a bath. This is when Mithun Hansda allegedly, in a drunken state, misbehaved with them.

While the other girls managed to run away, Hansda kidnapped the 8-year-old, took her to the bank of a river outside the village and allegedly raped her. He is then suspected to have killed her and thrown her dead body among the trees of the river bank.

According to the local newspaper, Hansda joined the party after the alleged crime, but as the girl did not return, her family started looking for her.

In the meanwhile, the other girls revealed Hansda’s misdemeanour to the villagers, who then confronted him, but he denied raping the girl. On Wednesday, the villagers again approached Hansda, tied him to a tree and brutally beat him until he died. As per Prabhat Khabar, Hansda had allegedly confessed to raping and killing the girl. Over twenty people have been booked for murder.

The two lynchings happened after a Dairy farmer was beaten and his house burnt down in a Jharkhand village on Tuesday afternoon. The attack took place after the carcas of a headless cow was allegedly found near Usman Ansari’s residence.

Last month, on May 18, two separate lynchings killed seven citizens and injured at least six others. The attacks stemmed from a spate of WhatsApp rumours over alleged “child abductors” who had infiltrated the area.

Bihar: Two middle-aged men were lynched at 1 am on Thursday at Parasia village under Kochas police station of Rohtas district, Bihar on a mere suspicion that they were thieves. The incident took place about 170 km south-west of state capital, Patna.

As reported by Hindustan Times, the deceased were brothers and Mahar Dalits – Musahars, who are regarded as the most depressed among the Dalit community and so financially backward that they were traditionally known to subsist on a diet of mice which they used to hunt for a living.

The police identified them as Baban Musahar, 40, and Murahu Musahar, 35. They were accused of entering a house after burrowing through a wall to conduct theft.

Satish Kumar, Kochas station house officer, said that the preliminary investigations suggested that the villagers raised an alarm when two men were caught trying to enter a house at such an early hour. The brother panicked and tried to run away, but the locals caught up with them and brutally assaulted them. Both of them died while receiving treatment.

The police said that the mob dispersed only after they rushed to the scene. A case of murder has been lodged against unidentified persons and the police are attempting to establish the identities of the attackers.

The Logical Indian take

The four deaths are among the list of murders caused by a mob which believes that it has the impunity to take the law into its own hand.

The violence occurred despite the outrage caused by “targeted lynchings” and assaults. On June 28, citizens across the country took part in a protest – Not In My Name – in hopes that people will be made aware of the crimes and the perpetrators will be staunchly informed that such acts favour no one, but are only executed to satisfy false pride.

Despite all of this, nothing stopped people from resorting to violent mob justice.

In Jharkhand, when Usman Ansari was beaten and his house was burnt down, nearly a thousand people united to attack him because of their common belief.

As individuals living in a society, unity is essential, but not one which is stemmed from hate. In the brutal murder of 15-year-old Junaid Khan too, there were multiple witnesses, but no one stepped up to report against the criminals – they too were united in hate.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke against the lynchings, terming them as “unacceptable” in the land of non-violence and Gandhi. While a statement from the PM was long overdue and crucial, it will take a lot more than a statement for India to rid itself of the plague of mob violence.

While in the case of Mithun Hansda, it is alleged that he had raped and murdered the 8-year-old, however, his punishment should have been decided by the judiciary of our country and not a mob that believed that taking the law into its own hand is justified.

We need stringent punishments against those who resort to such acts of violence. To uphold the safety of citizens, law and order need to be established. In the meanwhile, people from all strata of life need to be educated and made aware of the evils of discrimination on the basis of caste or creed.

Jharkhand: Boy Stripped Naked, Beaten By A Mob On Being Found With A Girl From Other Community

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Know Why This Small Town In Tamil Nadu Is In The Guinness Book Of World Records

Did you know there is a town at the southern tip of India that can be called ‘Heaven on Earth’. Its people realise the importance of keeping the environment clean.

Madukkarai Panchayat in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, is the cleanest place in India, owing to around 50 women who wake up every day to collect waste from each and every household in the town. At 6 AM, the women set out to work with their green jackets on, hands covered in gloves and caps adjusted perfectly on their heads. Every morning they line up for the roll call. These ‘Green Friends’ are part of the solid waste management program supported by ACC Cement – Madukkarai.

Madukkarai, a small town at the tip of the country, is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest recycling lesson in the world. With the help of around 50 women, who are now called ‘Green Friends’, and a simple, scalable model, this town is leading the way for efficient waste management. #SwachhBharat

While most of us find someone to put the blame on, Madukkarai decided to take control in their own hands. The town has 8,000 households and a population of 42,000. 82% of the homes hand over garbage to ‘Green Friends’ every day. 1,440 tonnes of garbage is collected annually from the town of 18 wards and 107 streets.

There is a lot that we can learn from Madukkarai. One of the most disturbing realities that we face, despite which part of the country we reside in, is the similar dirt everywhere – garbage piled up on roadside, drains clogged with plastic bags and dogs chewing on the leftover food we have callously thrown on the streets.

We keep our homes clean; make sure that the floors are mopped every day. But why do we not share the same sentiment for our surroundings? We hardly realize that the street outside our home is as much ours as is anybody else’s. We are the ones who use these roads every day to commute. Madukkarai realized this and the importance of a clean environment for our health and well-being.

Guinness Book of World Records for the largest recycling lesson in the world

‘Green Friends’ collect household wastes in eight different bins for wet waste, kitchen waste, plastic waste, etc. This is then disposed in large bins kept in several parts of the town. Trucks pick up this waste daily and take it to the resource recovery park where the garbage is recycled.

The treatment center segregates the different types of wastes. The kitchen waste is converted into fertilizers and given to farmers at extremely low prices to use in cultivation of their crops. The plastic waste is processed to be used in the construction of roads, and also at the large ACC factory where it is used as fuel at high temperatures which does not even cause pollution.

Due to the efforts of ‘Green Friends’, the citizens of Madukkarai, and the municipality, there has been a 60% reduction in landfill waste over the span of three years. There has also been a 50% reduction in the vehicle movement to the landfill sites, 85% of organic waste is converted successfully into vermin compost, ample reduction in the use of fossil fuels, reduction in greenhouse gas emission to 60%, and substantial decrease in the spread of malaria and dengue among the people. Furthermore, barren lands provided for compost yard have been successfully converted into fully functional organic compost yard and non-recyclable waste is used as an alternative energy source for the cement industry.

Madukkarai’s citizens have also become more environment-friendly, with 30% of the households segregating the organic-recyclable waste at home.

What we can learn

Madukkarai has paved the way to the sustainable development of our world. They have shown us that is not impossible to keep our environment clean. All we need is to inculcate in us a concern for mother Earth. It is commendable that ACC is supporting Madukkarai in its venture and helping it stay clean.

We, as citizens of other towns, cities, villages and states in India, have a lot to learn from Madukkarai. We too can have a healthier life if only we care enough and practice our civil duties proudly.